Robert Stack (born Charles Langford Modini Stack, January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was an American actor, sportsman, and television host. In addition to acting in more than 40 feature films, he starred in the 1959–63 ABC-TV hit television series The Untouchables, for which he won the 1960 Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series, and later hosted Unsolved Mysteries from 1987 until 2002. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Written on the Wind in 1956.

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Robert Stack was born Charles Langford Modini Stack in Los Angeles, California, but his first name (selected by his mother) was changed to Robert by his father. He spent his early childhood growing up in Europe. He became fluent in French and Italian at an early age, and did not learn English until returning to Los Angeles.[1] His parents divorced when he was a year old, and he was raised by his mother, Mary Elizabeth (née Wood). His father, James Langford Stack, a wealthy advertising agency owner,later remarried his mother,but died when Stack was ten.[2] He had always spoken of his mother with the greatest respect and love. When he collaborated with Mark Evans on his autobiography, Straight Shooting, he included a picture of himself and his mother. He captioned it, "Me and my best girl." His grandfather was an opera singer named Charles Wood, who went by the name "Modini". By the time he was twenty, Stack had achieved minor fame as a sportsman. He was an avid polo player and shooter. He and his brother won the International Outboard Motor Championships, in Venice, Italy; and, at age 16, he became a member of the All-American Skeet Team.[1] He set two world records in skeet shooting and became National Champion. In 1971, he was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame.[3][4]

Stack took drama courses at Bridgewater State College. His deep voice and good looks attracted producers in Hollywood. When Stack visited the lot of Universal Studios at age 20, producer Joe Pasternak offered him an opportunity to enter the business. Recalled Stack, "He said, 'How'd you like to be in pictures? We'll make a test with Helen Parrish, a little love scene.' Helen Parrish was a beautiful girl. 'Gee, that sounds keen,' I told him. I got the part."[5] Stack's first film, which teamed him with Deanna Durbin, was First Love, in 1939; this film was considered controversial at the time. He was the first actor to give Durbin an on-screen kiss. Stack won acclaim for his next role, The Mortal Storm (1940) starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, and directed by Frank Borzage. He played a young man who joins the Nazi party. As a youth, Stack mentioned that he had a crush on Carole Lombard and in 1942 he appeared with her in To Be or Not To Be. He admitted he was terrified going into this role, but he credited Lombard with giving him many tips on acting and with being his mentor. Lombard was killed in a plane crash shortly before the film was released.

In The Name of the Game, he played a former federal agent turned true-crime journalist, evoking memories of his role as Ness. In both Most Wanted and Strike Force he played a tough, incorruptible police captain commanding an elite squad of special investigators, also evoking the Ness role. Eventually, he reprised the role in a 1991 television movie, The Return of Eliot Ness.

He began hosting Unsolved Mysteries in 1987. He thought very highly of the interactive nature of the show, saying that it created a "symbiotic" relationship between viewer and program, and that the hotline was a great crime-solving tool. Unsolved Mysteries aired from 1987 to 2002, first as specials in 1987 (Stack did not host all the specials, which were previously hosted by Raymond Burr and Karl Malden), then as a regular series on NBC (1988–97), then on CBS (1997–99) and finally on Lifetime (2001–02). Stack served as the show's host during its entire original series run. In 1991, Stack voiced the main police officer Lt. Littleboy (who is also the main protagonist and narrator) in The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep. For a brief period between 2001–2002, Stack voiced Stoat Muldoon, a character featured on the computer-animated television series, Butt-Ugly Martians on Nickelodeon.